“If Ben Had Had His Way”: A Symposium in Honor of the 300th Anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's Birth

A faculty symposium on Franklin’s vision for the institution which became the University of Pennsylvania, including a presentation by the winner of the Penn Humanities Forum’s undergraduate student essay contest, “If Ben Had Had His Way.” Panelists will include Rebecca Bushnell, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences; Peter Conn, Professor of English; Peter Stallybrass, Annenberg Professor in the Humanities; and Michael Zuckerman, Professor of History. A reception and viewing of the Library exhibition, “Educating the Youth of Pennsylvania: Worlds of Learning in the Age of Franklin,” follows the symposium.

Sponsored by the Penn Humanities Forum and the University of Pennsylvania Library.

Lecture: Mark Frazier Lloyd, “Franklin’s ‘Idea of the English School’ Proposed and Defended”

Mark Frazier Lloyd, Director of the University Archives and Records Center at the University of Pennsylvania, will deliver a lecture on Benjamin Franklin’s original ideas for the institution that would become the University of Pennsylvania and evaluate those ideas in the context of their own time, and ours. A reception and viewing of the Library exhibition, “Educating the Youth of Pennsylvania: Worlds of Learning in the Age of Franklin,” will follow.

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Saturday, March 18, 2006
10:00AM-6:00PM

A Summit Conference: Franklin’s Vision, the Penn Compact, and the Future Direction(s) of Education at the University of Pennsylvania

A day-long conference on Penn’s plans for education and leadership, organized by undergraduate student leaders. More details to follow.

Lecture: Richard Beeman, “Franklin, Vergennes, and the Achievement of American Independence”

Richard Beeman, Professor of American History at the University of Pennsylvania, will discuss the way in which Franklin, by his extraordinary combination of charm, political acumen, guile and, perhaps most important, genuine love of France and the French people, negotiated the dangerous diplomatic waters during America's peace negotiations with England, France, and Spain. Sponsored by the French Heritage Society, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Library. A reception and viewing of the Library exhibition, “Educating the Youth of Pennsylvania: Worlds of Learning in the Age of Franklin,” will follow. Sponsored by the French Heritage Society.